Valve for fire extinguisher



Jan. 10, 1956 v. E. FERGUSON 2,730,179

VALVE FOR FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed Nov. 18, 1952 5| W? H 5 :H I u I INVENTOR. VeYMn f q s 6T,

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States This invention relates to fire extinguishing systems and has for its object to produce means for sealing a pressurized fire bottle or container against discharge, said means being of such nature that there is no appreciable time delay in opening movement and there is no train of mechanism whose inertia must be overcome when the bottle is to be opened.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a simple and effective means for tripping the bottle which is positive in action and of inexpensive nature. The mechanism of the invention is operative regardless of its position.

With the general object named in view and others as will hereinafter appear, the invention consists in certain new and useful features of construction and organization of parts as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a cross section through a valve mechanism as it may appear attached to a fire extinguishing bottle or container.

Figure 2 is a cross section through a modified valve for use in connection with the construction shown in Figure 1.

In the said drawing, where like reference characters identify corresponding parts in all of the figures, I is a fire extinguishing tank or bottle which is adapted to hold a fire extinguishing fluid under pressure and to discharge same through an opening 2. To provide means for the discharge and distribution of the fire extinguishing fluid, a valve casing 3 is connected to the neck 2 with :1 pres sure tight joint, said casing having one or more nipples 4 for connection to distribution lines not shown.

The casing 3 is also formed with a cylinder 5 and mounted to reciprocate within the cylinder is a piston 6 connected to a valve '7 by a stem 8. The cylinder 5 may be additionally sealed against pressure loss by a cup gasket 6a on top of the piston s. The valve 7 is normally seated on the valve seat 9 to prevent discharge of the bottle or container. To hold the valve 7 closed the cylinder 5 is pressurized to such a point that the force therein is greater on the piston 6 to hold the valve closed, than the amount of force exerted against the face of the valve 7.

The end of the cylinder 5 is closed by a cap 10 which is equipped with a nylon or similar valve disk or button 11 encaged by a strap or the like 12 so that the button cannot be discharged and lost within the cylinder. It will be apparent that the pressure in the cylinder 5 will hold the nylon button or valve 11 closed. The fire extinguisher is fired by force applied to unseat the nylon button. When this happens the pressure in cylinder 5 is exhausted and the piston and valve open or fall-away to permit discharge of the fire extinguishing fluid. The device may be subjected to remote control as by alining the core 13 of a solenoid 14 to push against the nylon button 11. The solenoid is carried by a housing 15 secured to the cap 10.

Figure 2 illustrates a valve and piston formed with a Z,?3@,i? Patented Jan. 10, 1956 bleeder passage 16. This construction avoids the necessity of separately pressurizing the cylinder 5 as the valve will be held closed by the preponderance of pressure on the piston over that against the face of the valve. When this construction is used with the bottle as arranged in Figure 1 it is necessary to provide the bleeder passage 16 with an extension line leading through the fluid in the bottle to the bottle pressure chamber. This line may be provided with a ball check valve or the like which will close if the cylinder 5 is pressurized above the bottle pressure chamber. The ball cannot seal in the opposite direction because of a stop pin.

From the above description and drawing it will be apparent that i have produced a construction embodying all of the features of advantage set forth as desirable; and which I have described and illustrated the preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that I reserve the right to all changes within the spirit and scope of the appennded claims.

i claim:

1. A fire extinguisher comprising a container of fire extinguishing fluid under pressure and having a discharge opening, a discharge nipple connected to the discharge opening, a cylinder projecting from the nipple in axial alinement with the discharge opening, a piston reciprocating in the cylinder and formed with a reduced stem extending into the nipple, a valve carried by the stem for closing the discharge opening, said piston being normally advanced by pressure in the cylinder to maintain the valve in closed relation to the discharge opening, a valve in the cylinder normally held closed by pressure in the cylinder, and means to unseat the cylinder valve against the cylinder pressure to permit container pressure to open the container valve by efiecting movement of the piston Within the cylinder.

2. A fire extinguisher comprising a container of fire extinguishing fluid under pressure, said container having a discharge opening having a valve seat, a cylinder connected to the container in axial alinement with the discharge opening, a piston reciprocating in the cylinder, a valve carried by the piston, said valve being adapted to close the container valve seat, the cylinder being pressurized to hold the piston advanced with its valve closed against the container pressure, and a valve in the cylinder normally held closed by the pressure in the cylinder, and means for opening said cylinder valve against the cylinder pressure to exhaust the cylinder and permit container pressure to open the container valve by movement of the piston in the cylinder.

3. A fire extinguisher comprising a container of fire extinguishing fluid under pressure, said container having a discharge opening having a valve seat, a cylinder connected to the container in axial alinement with the discharge opening, a piston reciprocating in the cylinder, a valve carried by the piston, said valve being adapted to close the container valve seat, the cylinder being pressurized to hold the piston advanced with its valve closed against chamber pressure, a valve in the cylinder normally held closed by pressure in the cylinder, and a solenoid to unseat the cylinder valve against the cylinder pressure to exhaust the cylinder and permit container pressure to open the container valve by movement of the piston in the cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,464,268 Siebens Mar. 15, 1949 2,522,962 Reger Sept. 19, 1950 2,544,016 Getz Mar. 6, 1951 

